Every seat at the Meadow Lake city council table will soon be filled. Three candidates have thrown their hats into the ring for the May 14 municipal by-election, and all three are not without experience when it comes to campaigning at the local level. The candidates, Anne Duriez, Tom Harrison and Dwayne Mysko, were all on the ballot for last November’s municipal vote. Harrison, a former city councillor himself, was the first runner-up last time, earning 263 votes. Mysko received 205 votes and Duriez 170. “I made the decision eight years ago I thought I had something to contribute to our community and I still believe that to be true,” Harrison told Northern Pride when he decided to seek re-election back in November. “I believe having worked and lived in Meadow Lake for the last 37 years and my experience both in life and after the last eight years in the role has made me an effective city councillor.”
When it comes to the issues, last time out, Harrison focused his campaign on community safety. “The development of the community safety officer (CSO) program and the 24-hour RCMP shifts, and expansion of specialized units headquartered in the city have helped and need to be a continued priority that requires working closely with the RCMP leadership and senior provincial representatives to hear our voice,” he noted. “Infrastructure improvements, water, sewer, sidewalks, streets and recreation facilities are also a continued priority. Others would be to resolve the smell issues linked to the sewage lagoon, to streamline the approval process to ensure commercial lots are available for business and industrial expansion in the city, to ensure the new Co-op Centre use is maximized and managed efficiently so everyone is able to take advantage of the new jewel in our community, and, finally, to work to keeping taxes as low as possible while providing quality services to city residents.”
Harrison worked 37 years for the Ministry of Environment in many communities as a conservation officer, park superintendent and senior manager responsible for 250- plus staff and tens of millions of dollars in yearly budgets. After retiring, he spent three years as a management consultant to Mosaic Potash delivering productivity and leadership training and oversight to their middle management groups. He served on both minor hockey and golf club boards, and chaired the facilities committee for the Saskatchewan Summer Games. He volunteers with other organizations especially the local Lions Club. As a member of council, he sat on the local library board and chaired the finance committee on the Lakeland Library Board. Recently, he was presented with a King Charles III Coronation Medal by then MP Gary Vidal. Mysko, meanwhile, said he would like to serve as a member of city council because it’s his goal to see Meadow Lake be a place his children and grandchildren would like to call home.
“I believe any community needs to look at their core purpose,” he said when interviewed prior to last fall’s general election. “For Meadow Lake, I believe that would be farming, forestry and as a gateway to the north. That being said, we need to consider ways to support our local core economy. For example, transportation is a large part of our core economies and we need to improve on traffic flow.” Mysko has worked at Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp since January 1992. He works in the woodworm and yard where he operates heavy equipment. “I grew up on a farm west of Meadow Lake working along side my grandpa, dad and uncle,” he added. “I enjoy working in a team environment as I do at the mill to this day.”
As for Duriez, if elected, she would like to see a stronger focus placed on mental health and wellbeing. “It is important to consider the health of citizens (physical and mental) in all city council decisions to make Meadow Lake an attractive place to live, work or do business,” Duriez stated while campaigning last fall. “Meadow Lake has the only hospital for 140 kilometres in any direction. The Meadow Lake Hospital, and affiliated services, are assets that could draw people to live in Meadow Lake as they raise their children, or retire, if we focused on making businesses, streets and amenities accessible for anyone, whatever their mobility needs. I would like to address the lack of varied and affordable types of housing, which impacts citizens and employers who have difficulty recruiting employees when suitable housing cannot be found.”